Fire Stones - By Kailin Gow Page 0,31

pearl in the other room....”

Varun winked at me as he followed Abzu into another room.

I instantly realized the upside of being a despised human. Abzu hadn't even noticed that I existed – certainly not enough to mind leaving me alone in the main room while he showed off his collection of jewels and finery to Varun. And so it gave me time – time to make my way into a small room just off the main chamber. I looked around wildly. If I were hunting for a jewel – where would I go first?

But a strange feeling seemed to awaken within me. A feeling of surety – of certainty – of power. Suddenly I was breathing naturally, on my own. I felt my lungs expand with oxygen; a blue shimmer seemed to appear before me. I followed the light, entranced by its beauty, my feet traveling of their own accord to a pile of gemstones in the corner of the room. Each was more beautiful than the last; each sparkled with unimaginable loveliness – and yet my hands knew where to go. I reached deep within the pile of jewels, my fingers colliding with one smooth stone, moon-shaped. Immediately I felt power course through me like adrenaline. I pulled my hand out of the pile, a single sapphire in my palm. Heat flashed through me like fire; I pressed the stone to my chest and felt its warmth. This was the healing stone. This was the stone that would save my mother.

I looked down at the stone in my hands.

If I had my doubts about being Vesta before, they were gradually vanishing. This stone, so smooth and warm in the palm of my hand, told me more than any dream or vision ever could. It seemed to call out to me, to call me “Vesta,” to challenge me to embrace my destiny.

“And here are the sixteenth-century gold pieces,” I heard Abzu saying from the other room. “Pre-Erosion – genuine! From the Spanish Armada.”

There was no time to think. I hurried back to the main room.

Chapter 13

“So, you see my treasures,” Abzu was saying to Varun as they re-entered. I sat quietly on the edge of one of the chairs, the stone hidden away in my pocket. “I daresay I have had great success.” He leered at Varun. “Brother Poseidon.”

Varun stiffened. “You are certainly a man of wealth.”

“They say money cannot buy happiness,” Abzu continued on blithely, looking at Varun with intensity. “But, of course, it cannot buy support, if you understand what I am saying.”

“Clearly,” Varun said in a clipped voice. I could tell by the way his muscles tensed up that he wanted nothing more than to strike Abzu across the face. But something held him back. He knew that it would be an even fight – there was no sure guarantee of a winner. And with the loyalty of the other water deities so in doubt, it wasn’t worth it for either of them to pick a fight. No single god could rule the seas without the support of others. And as I looked the throne room up and down, taking in each glittering gemstone, I saw just how easily support might be bought. I looked up at Varun questioningly.

“I think I should be leaving now,” Varun began. “It’s been a long journey, and I’m anxious to be getting back…”

Abzu turned to me with a grim smile. “How did you like life under the sea, human? I see Varun has made it possible for you to breathe underwater…”

“Just by using mouth-to-mouth,” Varun said quickly. “Not comfortable – but Mac here really wanted to see where I lived.”

I looked up at Varun in confusion. Mouth-to-mouth? He was evidently careful not to mention the process by which we had become one. What was he afraid of? But I nodded at Abzu, saying nothing. Better he think me stupid than get suspicious about the lump in my pocket.

“You know,” Abzu said airily, “I could challenge you if I wanted to. Kill you right here and now.”

“I imagine you could try,” Varun said, seething.

“But I won’t. Not today. I’ve just been released from imprisonment after five thousand years – I have better things to do than risk angering the elders. So I’ll let you…” he turned to me, casting an eagle eye up and down my body “and your beautiful girlfriend go free…for now. Be sure to feed my kraken on the way out.”

With that, he turned on his heel and sauntered